Can You Help Me Choose New Food For My Cats?

[Alberto_L.]

Hi!

I have two cats, 6 and 11 years old.

I've feeded them with Royal Canin (dry food) until now, and only today I've found out that are very bad.
So I want to change.
I'd prefer to give them dry food, they are used to eat in this way.

What can I buy?
Is the Orijen food good?
Is there something better?


Thanks!

 

[IndyJones]

Orijen is one of the best if you can afford it.

 

[orange&white]

Orijen is a good brand. If you're not on a budget, the higher the price the better quality the ingredients, usually. There are some exceptions to that. If you can afford better food, then I would add a wet canned food into their diet in addition to dry.

 

[abyeb]

Orijen is great, but expensive . Any cat food that has meat listed as the first ingredient, and is potato-free, grain-free, and carrageenan-free should be great for cats.

 

[lalagimp]

My cats did not like Orijen.
I've ended up feeding Nature's Variety for years.

 

[KatKnapper]

I'm currently putting my cat through a barrage of dry and wet cat foods, as he is my only Guinea pig test subject, and the worst possible test subject I could have chosen. The best tidbit I could add to this list is for you to study Lisa A. Pierson's (DVM) CatInfo.org and mine it for all its worth, as to the In and Outs of Cat foods. I have this same task of my "must do" list, so when I view the ingredients on packaged cat foods wet or dry, I will know exactly what I am feeding my precious cat. Until I can find the time and drive to do that, I have been on a journey to find the best dry and wet foods I can provide my cat.

There is a second aspect of this, which is...what can I get him to accept as food? I have never know a finicky eater greater than myself, until I took this fellow in. Anyway, you may need to transition your cats into the new food, no matter how better the quality. My cat turned down a straight palm full of Merrick's Back Country, Orijen Cat & Kitten, and a Italian brand called Farmina N&D. My cat balked at wet cans of Weruva and Fussie Cat. I took the same open cans outside to the roaming cats, and one was literally hanging off my trousers at the waist in anticipation of this food, the same my cat went on a hunger strike over.

You may not want to dive into newer, better quality foods too fast, otherwise you'll be in my shoes and stuck with bags of expensive foods with only the outdoor cats waiting at your doorstep for it. Try to get samples or a small bag initially.

My cat is content with eating the kibble Blue Limited Ingredient Turkey & Potato. For a time I was trying to transition him to Wellness Core Turkey, so he enjoyed the two mixed for a time. The only wet he would have was a Fancy Feast in gravy. I stopped it, when he continued to only lick off the gravy, then return to his kibble dish. My sampling the other expensive cats was in hopes of finding a better replacement.

May I ask what you discovered about Royal Canin?

 

[orange&white]

You may not want to dive into newer, better quality foods too fast, otherwise you'll be in my shoes and stuck with bags of expensive foods with only the outdoor cats waiting at your doorstep for it. Try to get samples or a small bag initially.

That's the best advice. Get samples from the pet supply stores or manufacturers. The top-rated, best-quality food is worthless if your cat won't eat it.

 

[Alberto_L.]

May I ask what you discovered about Royal Canin?

I've watched the documentary about Pet Food on Netflix, and I've found out that the first ingredient of the food that I give to my cats is grain. Very bad, right?


Thanks to all!

 

[orange&white]

Cats thrive on meat protein, meat fat and meat calcium/minerals (bone). Grains and starches hold dry kibble together and bulk up stools. They don't add much in the way of nutrition. All the added vitamins/minerals at the end of the ingredient list help the cat survive the food.

 

[Alberto_L.]

The bad thing is that they make appear those ingredients in a good way...very sad. I've checked the ingredient list of the food that I give to them (Sterilised +7 for the older and Urinary for the other) and basically there isn't meat!

Tomorrow I'll buy the Orijen food (the smaller bag) and I'll start a slow transition.

I just hope that the older cat will like those new kribbles, he's very stubborn when it comes to food

The other cat is the opposite, when I offer him a new food to eat is always very happy!

 

[orange&white]

I think the Orijen will be better for them. Fingers crossed that they like it!

 

[mizzely]

I have two picky cats and if I wasn't dealing with food allergies, I would get Orijen in a heartbeat. They loved that food!

Best food is a mixture of quality ingredients balanced against your budget and your cat's personal taste

The only "better" in the dry food category would be to do something like air-dried ZiwiPeak, or freeze dried raw, but that is pretty spendy, especially for 2 cats.

 

[neely]

FYI, there was a thread started about Orijen a little while back, here's the link to it:
New orijin food= not impressed

 

[KatKnapper]

"Marketing is just a fancy word for pitching a sale. If you spin the curve just right, they'll never see it coming. Our ignorance is their bliss." - KatKnapper

I'm starting to think that all the cat food makers are pitching some sort of sale nowadays. It seems their mission statement is not to provide your cat with the best nutrition but to smooth talk the greens out of your wallet or purse.

Take a few minutes and read just this page, Commercial Cat Foods by Lisa A. Pierson, DVM Commercial Cat Foods and contrast what she is saying, with the dry kibbles you are feeding your cat or are considering upgrading to and I think you will begin to see the kind of pitches these players are throwing to you.

 

[KatKnapper]

I strongly suggest supplementing your cats dry kibble with a good healthy wet can food. Better yet if you possibly can, get them on it entirely.

 

[Alberto_L.]

FYI, there was a thread started about Orijen a little while back, here's the link to it:
New orijin food= not impressed

Thanks! I've read the thread and it says that for the US residents they have changed the formula...but I live in Italy, so it should concern me.

By the way, they like the Orijen kribbles!

I strongly suggest supplementing your cats dry kibble with a good healthy wet can food. Better yet if you possibly can, get them on it entirely.

I'll try to give them also the wet food, can you suggest me something good?

 

[paiger8]

Thanks! I've read the thread and it says that for the US residents they have changed the formula...but I live in Italy, so it should concern me.

By the way, they like the Orijen kribbles!


I'll try to give them also the wet food, can you suggest me something good?

You'll have to try out different textures. All cats have their preferences. But look for the meatiest food you can find. Look for foods with no grains or veggies. Fancy Feast classics are inexpensive, and loved by most cats if you are looking for some place to start. Sheba pates are decent as well.

Here's some helpful tips on what to look for, as well as a list of great brands. The Best Food for Your Cat: My Recommendations

 

[KatKnapper]

I'd like to add that if it is within your budget, to avoid what is known as the "grocery canned cat food varieties," at least for your special indoor cat. I used a grocery store brand for a while to supplement my guys dry kibble (now only on occasion). He would go nuts for it in the morning. Then after a while he would only eat one flavor of the many they offer. Eventually he morphed into a textbook "gravy licker." It had to be a specific flavor otherwise he wouldn't go near it. The reason I used this over the top tier canned brands, is because this is the only wet food he would eat. Since my work schedule keeps me away at times up to 8 - 12 hours, his mainstay had to be dry kibble. Transitioning him from this canned food to a higher tier brand was working until he got wise of it and starting refusing to eat it.

Seems that Vets and Guardians refer to certain grocery brands as "Kitty Crack (< like in addictive drug)." I suspect they are adding either flavor enhancers and/or chemical additives that trick the cat's brain and body into craving foods that have minimal nutrition.

If I were to grind up 1 part armadillo, 1 part ground hog, and 3 parts lab rat and add turkey flavors and enhancers, then call it turkey sausage, do you think you would know the difference? To think we have 5 million smell receptors to a cat's 200 million. How is it that these obligated carnivores are fooled into thinking that dry kibble is better than a mouse or bird?

 

[KatKnapper]

Read an awesome article where the CEO of Hound & Gatos was interviewed. It nearly won me over until I read some reviews about it on Amazon. I have read that there are very few pet food makers that have never had a recall on dry or wet foods (a 2 year old could probably count them on their pinky finger). Still it can happen to the best of us at home or work, under the right circumstances. This article left a lot of questions in my mind about, what am I really feeding my beloved cat? The phrase still holds true..."Trust but VERIFY."

 

[IndyJones]

Fancy feast does fall under the grocery store cat crack category as does anything else with unspecified meat. Plus the cans are ridiculously tiny.

As a general rule I avoid anything that has mystery meat in it.

You generally can tell the quality of the meat by how it is worded on the ingredient list.

For example from best to worst
Beef>beef byproduct>beef byproduct meal>meat byproduct